Maloway to NDP: Go slow

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This article was published 30/08/2009 (6129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A long-serving former MLA urged the NDP not to rush into picking a new leader, two days before the party’s Manitoba executive meets to hammer out the details of a leadership convention.

Jim Maloway, who served as the Elmwood MLA for close to 23 years before becoming the NDP MP for Elmwood-Transcona in 2008, was reacting to suggestions the NDP is under pressure to select Gary Doer’s successor quickly after the premier announced his resignation Thursday.

Maloway said a later leadership convention — he suggested a November date — could give a much-needed boost to the party’s membership, and stifle opposition criticism of a political coronation.

"This is the first time in Manitoba that the NDP is picking a leader who will automatically become premier," Maloway said.

That means the new premier may face questions from the opposition over whether he or she can legitimately run the province without having faced the voters as the party’s leader.

"If you’re going to avoid that question, why not make this as wide open as possible," he said, adding that a later convention could persuade more contenders to join the race.

The convention could also entice new members and old supporters who may have let their memberships slide, Maloway said.

The NDP uses a delegate system, in which the number of delegates a constituency sends depends on its members in good standing 30 days before the convention.

If the convention is held in mid-October — which party officials have indicated is the earliest possible date logistically — that leaves only a two-week window for new members to get in on the action.

Maloway went further, suggesting the party should reverse its 2007 decision to revert to the delegate system — it had previously embraced the one-member, one-vote system that has proved popular with other parties.

"I think the public wants to see a legitimate, wide-open race and feel they have input into the selection."

He said he felt it was important to voice his concerns before Monday’s meeting of the executive.

Lorraine Sigurdson, president of the Manitoba NDP, said she had not been contacted by Maloway regarding the issue.

However, she stressed the convention date was not set in stone, nor was it decided that an earlier convention is in the best interest of the party.

"We’re not going to make a decision lightly," she said, adding the issues that would be discussed Monday were "momentous."

University of Manitoba political scientist Jared Wesley agreed that Doer’s resignation is an incredible opportunity for growth in the party’s membership.

"That’s the only time a party picks up new numbers," he said of leadership conventions, adding that "party tourists" will often sign membership cards just to participate in the convention — a phenomenon more popular with one-member, one-vote systems.

But, he said, there are convincing reasons why the NDP may want to slate the convention for the earliest possible date — though "everyone in the party knows this can’t look like a coronation ceremony."

The longer a party draws out a race, the more time the opposition has to dig up ammo on the candidates, Wesley said. It can also lead to bickering between contenders, though he pointed out that the province’s NDP historically has fairly clean leadership races.

Wesley said the recovering economy and the predicted return of H1N1 influenza are other reasons the party might want to get the convention over and done with. "Nobody wants to be distracted when dealing with a pandemic," he said.

arielle.godbout@freepress.mb.ca

Snap election a possibility

 

Could Premier Gary Doer’s resignation spark a snap election?

It’s possible, but unlikely.

Under the Elections Act, amended a year ago, Manitoba’s fixed election date is Oct. 4, 2011.

But the act does not prevent the next NDP premier from asking Manitoba’s Lieutenant-Governor Philip Lee to dissolve the legislature and call an election before that date.

Will the new NDP leader do that?

The act states a general election must be held on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 unless a general election has been held between the time the bill became law and Oct. 3, 2011.

In the future, a general election must be held on the first Tuesday in October in the fourth calendar year after election day for the last general election.

The act also preserves the powers of the lieutenant-governor to dissolve the legislature at the his or her discretion.

Regardless of what the next NDP premier thinks about election timing, Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said Friday Doer’s resignation has put the Progressive Conservatives on election footing.

"I think it’s prudent for us to be prepared for that possibility," he said.

"Everyone is looking with optimism with what’s to come. There are going to be significant opportunities for us."

McFadyen also said the party is in the process of selecting candidates and he met with a handful of potential Tory MLAs Friday morning.